Week 15: The Sakura Fall
The Beauty of Impermanence
Reflection
The second week of April on the BC west coast manifests in the abundance and beauty of blossoming cherry trees.
Their exquisite and heart softening delicacy is only matched by the ephemerality of this phenomenon.
Only gracing the trees for a few short weeks’ the most prominent metaphor learned from this flowering sentinel is the fleeting beauty of life.
With the coastal breezes inviting the petals to dance, they loose themselves from their arbour home into a windswept choreography ending with a carpet petal denouement.
A delightful way to announce the end of winter yet also a lesson in the grateful acceptance of life’s transience.
In Japanese philosophy the blooms embody their philosophy of Mono no aware - the bittersweet awareness of the impermanence of all things.
These delicate blooms are oftentimes characteristic of both life and death, representing the entire life cycle taking place across a few short weeks of spring urging us to appreciate the ‘here and now’ in the fragile and fleeting moments of nature.
Evidence & Ecology
The window, each spring, is tragically short, reaching peak bloom and falling within a span of one to two weeks. One of the most iconic moments in our spring calendar and a perfect reminder of the fleeting beauty of life. Not something to hold on to - fingers gripped. Something to live with, in the moment, holding presence and attention.
Besides this obvious lesson, cherry blossom trees are not solely aesthetic. They are a critical early food source, both nectar and pollen, for urban pollinators, such as bees, butterflies and migrating birds.
The fresh air that you notice as you walk down a blossom filled street is not something imagined. These trees act like “living labs” in cities like Vancouver contributing to carbon dioxide absorption and improved air quality.
Even after their attachment to the tree ceases cherry blossom petals offer enrichment to urban soils as they decompose rapidly offering their nutrients to support surrounding microorganisms and plant life.
They also provide much needed shade to reduce the ‘urban heat island effect’ offsetting the heat of asphalt and urban buildings.
How do you practice non-attachment in your daily life? Being here now, for the beauty of life’s fragile, temporary nature.
Where can you learn to let go of what is full of beauty, as easily as what is ‘ugly’, hard or stressful?
What does it teach you about being fully present for each moment?
Embodying Practice
Embodied Nature Meditation
Bloom and Release
Take a moment to find yourself in a comfortable standing position.
Allow your feet to gently and fully connect with the earth beneath you.
Close your eyes, connect with your breath and begin to visualize yourself as a cherry blossom tree.
Each inhale bringing nourishment to your blossoms - that which you hope to bring forth to the world.
Allow your focus to remain on your inhalations - through your nose - and allow your exhalations to happen naturally without effort…..
Story of Place
A Conversation with the Season
Sakura Fubuki: Cherry Blossom Snowstorm
There will be a day in April, and you can’t predict when, if walking on certain streets of Vancouver and the spring winds begin to play, that you will become enveloped in billowing petals as they are shaken loose from the trees - and dance, flutter & shimmy their way to become a carpet of blossoms at your feet.
The exuberance of this moment is palpable. Mimicking the ubiquitous rain showers of a west coast spring, this momentary and dramatic event is to be witness to a perfect ephemeral moment. The absolute joy in this expressive petal ballet is contagious as you scan the faces of your fellow pedestrians.
Being chosen to receive and experience this ‘petal snowstorm’ is a rare lottery win. With breezes aligning with the biological need to let go. The safety and growth of their branch not enough to hold fast a moment longer. A brief, riotous dance before their new role as soil. No hesitation. No regret. Embracing this moment. Now. Living the liminal - the in-between - as if it will last forever. Where can we apply this joie de vivre in our own lives?
Once, many years ago, as I was walking to the Cancer Agency on West 10th Avenue, baby daughter in tow, nervously awaiting news. prognosis. when we became front row guests to a spectacular frenzied floral choreography. Loosening from their arboreal attachments at the command of the conductor thousands of petals became the epitome of ‘mono no aware’ - the bittersweet appreciation of the fleeting nature of life.
The blossoms often reach peak bloom and fall in the BC coastal breeze within one to two weeks, a short-lived glory that serves as a visual reminder that life is beautiful, yet transient.
The scattering of blossoms, this graceful transition, enveloping us in a kaleidoscopic swirl seemed to shout at me, to wake me out of the fear of what judgement might be handed me once I walked through the sliding doors towards the official pronouncement - had the cancer spread?
These blossoms, in their multitudes, were not shouting with anger, but uproariously, asking us to see this liminal moment as a place to inhabit with total presence.
BE HERE NOW!!
The Invitation
Nature Kinship
Weekly nature connection practices aligned seasonally to engage with your locale. Encouraging immersion, appreciation and spiritual attunement with the more than human world around you.
Always remember to enjoy these practices within the bounds of your physical and ecological limits (do not sit outside when it’s -40, or walk on slippery surfaces), practice “leave no trace” and mindful reciprocity (take only what you need, ask permission from the earth, and only leave what is naturally biodegradable)
The Art Practice
Beauty and Decay
Gather petals and other naturally fallen nature items.
Begin to intuitively arrange them in a way that represents, to you, the transitory nature of this very moment. Becoming and letting go simultaneously. The joy in teetering between here and now. Before and after. The beauty of fleetingness.
Recreate the essence of the beauty you are experiencing at this moment. Do not overthink it. Allow the expression to move through you freely….
A Final Note
Closing Invocation
“Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colours, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.”
Singing the Earth
All photos copyright
Nature. Connected.
